Conventionally, in computers, functions for executing particular processes according to predetermined schedules are known. Among these are functions that check for OS updates every week on a predetermined day at a predetermined time, boot up the computer every day at a predetermined time, and so forth. In the UNIX-based OS, a ‘cron’ daemon program is provided that executes prescribed commands in a particular file at a prescribed date and time.
In addition, a technique for a schedule management server, in which the server notifies members at a set time that information for the members and the like have been registered on a shared information Web page in a system that handles information shared among a plurality of members, has also been known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application laid-open No. 2003-150758). In this technique, a person registering information that must be informed to the members, in addition to specific details concerning that information, also registers in the schedule management server the time at which notification to the members is to be carried out. When that set time arrives, the schedule management server then automatically transmits an e-mail notifying the members of at least the fact of registration.
However, since the program that executes the schedule and the unit that provides the function are inextricably linked, the conventional art described above lacks flexibility and function enhancement is difficult. For example, when calling a plurality of functions according to a schedule, either a plurality of sets of schedule call programs and function provision programs must be created or a plurality of functions must be implemented in a set of those programs. As a result, in the former case, it is necessary to provide a plurality of schedule call programs for the process of calling functions according to a schedule. Alternatively, in the latter case, because a single program has to provide a plurality of functions, the program may become complicated. Moreover, the program that executes the schedule and the external program that provides the function may be required to be present in the same computer.